Archinect - News

Dubai floats plan for new 400-gate airport terminal, the world's largest

2024-04-29T15:57:00-04:00

A design for what will become the world’s new largest-capacity airport terminal has been announced for Dubai by the Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Al Jazeera and other international outlets are reporting on the planned $35 billion development, which will take shape at the existing Al Maktoum International Airport with 400 total gates, five parallel runways, and a capacity for 260 million annual travelers — five times the size of Dubai's current international airport, according to the announcement.

Image: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum via X

Sheikh Mohammed also said there is a plan for a one-million-person satellite city to be developed alongside the new terminal, joined by a logistics hub for international carriers. Yahoo! Finance reported the vision will be realized "within ten years."

Speaking via his X account, the nation's ruler said, "We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children...

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

2024-04-25T12:03:00-04:00

Construction has begun on a $300 million renovation of Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3. The upgrades are expected to take three years and will overhaul the terminal’s infrastructure from security checkpoints to baggage claim, as well as adding amenities and improving accessibility.

Named ElevateT3, the project will include the reconfiguration of two TSA checkpoints into a single screening area, an expanded passenger corridor between concourses K and L, and the development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new concessions and amenity spaces. The terminal’s interior and exterior are also to be renovated to improve overall energy efficiency.

Previously on Archinect: FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion. Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027 and will take a phased approach to allow continuous operations throughout Terminal 3 during construction....

LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South project has topped out in Los Angeles

2024-04-22T17:46:00-04:00

LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South (or MSC South) recently topped out as the project's construction progresses in nine segments toward its 2025 completion date. The offsite construction will eventually yield eight new gates and a total of 150,000 square feet of space following a first-of-its-kind integrated design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA).

Buro Happold, structural engineer, sustainability consultant, lighting and acoustical designer on the project, in partnership with architects Woods Bagot and RAW International, says: "Each segment was designed with an independent lateral system consisting of buckling restrained braced frames in the east-west direction and Simspon Yield Link moment frames in the north-south direction to allow for access to gates along the terminal length. Additional analysis was then undertaken to determine the lifting points of each segment ...

Gensler, PGAL, Muller2 to design new Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal F expansion

2024-02-23T12:58:00-05:00

The team behind the new $1.6 billion Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal F expansion has been announced to include the architecture firms PGAL, Muller2, and Gensler. The three join an eight-member design-build consortium for the delivery of the sixth terminal of the nation’s second-busiest airport that will add a total of 400,000 square feet and 15 new gates with docking spaces located on either side of a rectangular concourse.

Construction will begin in June of this year. The project team says expectations are for completion no later than the second quarter of 2027. The new Terminal F coincides with a “major” redesign and expansion of Terminal C that’s set to finish in 2028, with up to 24 new gates being added to the airport facility in total.

The local NBC affiliate reported the American Airlines-led effort as being a replacement for a larger 24-gate $3.5 billion Terminal F expansion scheme that had been planned for 2025 before a pandemic-caused cancellation.

Related ...

AECOM and luis vidal + architects complete shining new Terminal E expansion at Boston Logan International Airport

2023-11-15T18:17:00-05:00

Work on the new Terminal E at Boston Logan International Airport has been completed by AECOM, luis vidal + architects, and Suffolk following a five-year and almost $640 million construction effort.

Standing out thanks to its prismatic red-colored aluminum roof panels, the 390,000-square foot expansion adds four new gates to the 49-year-old international terminal while modernizing its existing interior spaces and adding a security checkpoint, HVAC system, restaurants, and new 21,000-square-foot Delta Sky Club.

Luis Vidal, the president and founding partner of luis vidal + architects, says the result is “a bold, striking building designed with sustainable principles and focused on providing a unique, comfortable, and healthy environment for passengers and workers alike.” He has also described it as the first example of a "Fourth generation" of airport design in America.

Photo: Ema Peter

The new terminal serves as the centerpiece of the larger capital plan for Logan begun by Massport be...

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's $400M C Concourse Expansion gets cleared for takeoff

2023-10-15T08:00:00-04:00

A previously-announced plan from Woods Bagot and The Miller Hull Partnership is moving forward in Washington State after officials with the Port of Seattle Commission finally approved the $399 million C Concourse Expansion for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The expansion will add 145,530 square feet in total, including a 20,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines passenger lounge, multifaith prayer room, meditation center, nursery room, amphitheater, and a retail/dining area called The Grand Stairs, to an existing structure from 1966. The firms say their proposal “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness.” Turner has been contracted to lead the construction.

Rendering courtesy of The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot.

SEA planning officials are optimistic its realization will add to its claims of being the most energy-efficient port in the country as the first major construction to be undertaken in ...

Gensler and Moody Nolan debut terminal design for Columbus International Airport

2023-08-25T15:28:00-04:00

Gensler has revealed plans for a new terminal design for John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Columbus, Ohio. The project replaces an existing terminal from 1958 and is aimed at enhancing the regional economy of the state’s capital in the interest of “Connecting Ohio with the World.”

Columbus-based architects Moody Nolan will join the project as a design partner. The construction is necessary to meet the demands placed on the airport by Columbus’ expected demographic change, which will see the population of what is now the Midwest’s fastest-growing city expand to over 3 million by the year 2050.

Image courtesy Columbus Regional Airport Authority

The ‘Y’ form of the design is meant to mirror the confluence of nearby Olentangy and Scioto River while “symbolizing the fluid pathways taken by travelers and the connectivity.” Visitors will move from a ground-level entrance lobby through ticketing and security and into the main concourse’s retail plaza framed by a central gran...

Hollywood Burbank Airport unveils three finalist for new terminal design

2023-03-15T14:02:00-04:00

Three options to replace the aging Hollywood Burbank Airport main terminal have been released to the public following an internal selection from the Holder, Pankow, TEC, Joint Venture (HPTJV) team tasked with leading the Elevate BUR process.

Urbanize LA has more on the forthcoming 14-gate, 355,000-square-foot terminal project, which will also include parking, maintenance, and cargo facilities, along with other “ancillary features” located on the northeast portion of the 91-year-old airport.

First, "The Century," is inspired by the region's rich architectural history and calls for a "light-filled hall" defined by the "simple forms" and "clean lines" that are synonymous with Mid-Century design.

"The Century" concept. Image courtesy Corgan

The next design, dubbed "The Icon," is supposedly inspired by the "glitz and glamour of Hollywood" and includes a silver screen facade that is subsumed by an overarching canopy structure connected to the par...

SOM's all-inclusive Kansas City terminal brings air transport design 'far into the future'

2023-02-28T17:04:00-05:00

This week, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is debuting a new civic landmark for the Kansas City area they claim will also set a new benchmark for inclusive design in transportation architecture while bringing its 51-year-old airport “far into the future.”

The new, 39-gate terminal comes with an adjacent 6,000-space parking garage designed by BNIM and importantly consolidates three smaller terminals into a single two-story structure. With room to expand by another 11 gates in the coming years, its layout keys on user circulation and comes with a series of design features in line with the city’s resolution to make it the “most accessible in the world.”

Image: © Lucas Blair Simpson | Courtesy of SOM

Under a hemlock-clad ceiling overhang, both levels of the light-filled, 1.1 million-square-foot I-shaped structure come with a series of locally-designed mosaics made from materials preserved from its predecessor building in order to preserve its memory. The products of an intensive commun...

New $4.2 billion JFK Terminal 6 expansion officially breaks ground

2023-02-27T18:29:00-05:00

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently celebrated the groundbreaking of the $4.2 billion Terminal 6 project at JFK Airport.

This is the final piece of the JFK Vision Plan, the airport’s major, multi-year initiative to redevelop, modify, and expand existing facilities and infrastructure. This news follows the announcement of the terminal’s financing and approval in November 2022.

Rendering courtesy The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The scheme is a public-private partnership between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a consortium of financial stakeholders named JFK Millennium Partners.

The new terminal will be developed in two phases, with the first new gates opening in 2026 and construction set to complete in 2028. It will offer an anchor for passenger travel on JFK’s north side, spanning the sites of the former Terminal 6 and the existing Terminal 7. The 50-year-old Terminal 7 facility will be demolished...

Terminal 5 expansion at O'Hare International Airport opens to the public

2023-02-09T17:45:00-05:00

Chicago’s $1.3 billion O’Hare International Airport Terminal 5 expansion and renovation has been completed, marking the end of four years of work to modernize the terminal.

The project broke ground in 2019, with construction led by Austin Power Partners. The terminal’s capacity was increased by 25% to improve efficiency and reduce delays. Passenger amenity space was increased by 75%, and the existing building was expanded by around 350,000 square feet. Additional renovations were made to 750,000 square feet of the existing structure.

HOK and Muller & Muller Ltd. led the redesign of the facilities, maintaining the original 1993 design while modernizing them for today's demands. Vaulted ceilings invite natural light and provide views across the airfield toward the Chicago skyline. The project also incorporated new sustainable technology throughout the terminal, including 40,000 square feet of high-performance glass, water efficiency measures that exceed Sustainable Airport Manual re...

FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion

2022-11-23T12:10:00-05:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued approval to the proposed O’Hare 21 Expansion plan following the results of an environmental review that was announced by the agency on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was on hand in the Windy City to join Mayor Lori Lightfoot for the announcement, which allows for construction to begin in the spring on two satellite concourses and a new Global Terminal that will replace O’Hare’s existing Terminal 2. The FAA says “no significant impact” will be made by the Terminal Area Plan (TAP) and that it will immediately lead to a decrease in emissions thanks to reduced taxi times and more flexible gate capacity. The total budget for the TAP project is around $7.1 billion.

Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

SOM will lead the construction of both concourses, which add about 1.3 million square feet of space and are expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, respectively. The new Global Terminal designed by Studio ...

New York announces funding and construction timeline for new Terminal 6 expansion at JFK

2022-11-22T16:57:00-05:00

A few months after ground was broken on the $9.5 billion New Terminal One project, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the financing and approval of a new $4.2 billion Terminal 6 at JFK Airport that will serve as the final piece of the airport’s multi-year transformation upon completion in 2028.

The terminal will be developed in two phases beginning next year, with the first stage expected to open in 2026. It will have space for 10 gates in its 1.2-million-square-foot plan, with typical retail and dining options included along with an offering of touchless check-in technology, biometric security controls, and the space to accommodate for regulatory changes and further technology upgrades in the future.

JFK will demolish the aging Terminal 7 following the conclusion of the first phase of construction, and its current tenant British Airways will be relocated inside the newly-modernized Terminal 8, th...

FAA releases $1 billion in grant funding for much-needed U.S. airport upgrades

2022-07-25T13:43:00-04:00

A first of five rounds of airport infrastructure funding has been released by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the form of grants totaling $1 billion and intended to support the modernization and maintenance of facilities across the country.

Grants for terminal expansion and sustainability upgrades were awarded to a group of 85 airports as part of the Biden Administration’s bipartisan infrastructure spending package that will invest a total of $2 trillion into similar upgrades nationwide before the decade’s end.

“Americans deserve modern airports that meet the needs of their families and growing passenger demand,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. Indeed, the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s most recent 20-year Passenger Forecast indicated that overall air travel numbers are expected to increase to within 111% of the pre-pandemic levels in the next...

Delta's $4 billion Terminal C has opened at LaGuardia Airport

2022-06-10T18:52:00-04:00

Terminal C, Delta’s new dedicated terminal, is now complete and open for business at LaGuardia Airport. The $4 billion terminal spans 1.3 million square feet and represents Delta’s largest-ever airport investment. New facilities include 37 gates, 36 full-service check-in counters, 49 self-service kiosks, 16 bag drop counters, 11 security screening lanes with room for five additional lanes in the future, and 13 restrooms.

This is the latest milestone in the six-year, $8 billion reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport (LGA). It follows the recent opening of a second skybridge as part of the HOK and WSP-designed Terminal B renovation. For this project, LGA Terminals C and D will be consolidated into a single terminal across four concourses and a centralized departures and arrivals hall. The new terminal also features Delta’s largest airport lounge, a 34,000-square-foot Sky Club that will accommodate up to 600 guests.

Delta opened its new Terminal C at LGA to customers on June 4, 2022. The airline will fully complete the entire four-concourse terminal by the end of 2024, two years ahead of schedule.

Woods Bagot unveils designs for the new C Concourse Expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

2022-05-09T15:15:00-04:00

The industry's shift towards more sustainable airport design is taking on another form in Washington State after Woods Bagot revealed their designs for an ecologically-sound C Concourse Expansion at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Part of a series of capital improvements, the scope of the project entails the four-story expansion of an existing structure from 1966 and will follow the Port of Seattle’s new Sustainable Project Framework — a first for large developments under the body’s new environmentally-strident guidelines.

Image courtesy Woods Bagot

Per the architects, the 145,530-square-foot expansion “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness. Miller Hull and Woods Bagot are leading the project’s design concept of 'bringing in and seeing out' to create an interplay of environments between the natural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and the energy and vibrancy of Seattle.”

The project will re...

Orlando International Airport's $3 billion South Terminal C expansion is set to open in July

2022-03-09T18:43:00-05:00

Orlando International Airport's largest-ever expansion is about 90% complete, according to a Greater Orlando Aviation Authority press release shared with Construction Dive. The three-level South Terminal C project at Florida's busiest airport will encompass 300 acres, add 15 gates to accommodate up to 20 aircraft and serve 10-12 million additional passengers each year, the release said.

The approximately $3 billion project was a collaboration between a Turner-Kiewit joint venture, which provided construction management services for the Landside Terminal C, Hensel Phelps, which served as construction manager for the Airside Terminal C, and Vanderlande, which served as the design/build/operate/maintain contractor.

The new terminal features a high-tech, low-touch design and aims to become the world’s first LEEDv4 airport. The new terminal boasts a more centralized design, where arriving passengers will be able to retrieve checked baggage on the same level where they deplane. It also ensures an easier screening process, in which TSA checkpoints contain fully automated screening lanes, and a quieter baggage handling system that allows passengers to track their bags. The terminal is expected to open in July.

CallisonRTKL is bringing biophilic design to its latest airport project in Mexico

2021-08-18T17:08:00-04:00

Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara, is getting a brilliant new biophilic airport terminal courtesy of CallisonRTKL.

The 1.2-million-square-foot Terminal 2 expansion project promises a stress-relieving, traveler-friendly design and is also aiming to become one of the only net-zero airport terminals anywhere in the world.

Image courtesy CallisonRTKL

Featuring elements that pay homage to various local inspirations, the new terminal includes hotel-quality amenities like an in-house spa, art gallery, and gym. A sanctuary space will be open as well in addition to added greenery which makes for a more fluid and enjoyable user experience, according to the architect.

Image courtesy CallisonRTKL

“There is pressure to be more responsible towards the environment, which has increased over the last couple of years,” CallisonRTKL’s Sustainability team lead Pablo La Roche said in a June interview to Lampoon. “The airlines themselves as well as the airplane manufacturers are trying to make thei...

Fentress Global Challenge invites students to push the boundaries for public architecture

2020-05-01T14:26:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Fentress Architects

Despite a multitude of technological advances including video conferencing and drones, the proliferation of airports worldwide continues to be spurred on by global commerce and an unrelenting demand for travel.

While the airport terminal—conceived a century ago—is a relatively new architectural typology, it has since its inception held equal importance with quintessential civic buildings: city halls, courthouses, libraries, museums, and theaters. Yet, airports are uniquely complex and they are more than just high volume transportation hubs. Increasingly, airports are also workplaces, centers of commerce, recreational outlets, and cultural resources.

Fentress Global Challenge (FGC) is an annual international student design competition. Since its inception in 2011, thousands of entries from over 75 countries have competed for top honors. FGC represents an extraordinary exploration into the future of architecture, and in so doing, cont...

Zaha Hadid Architects' “starfish”-shaped Beijing Daxing International Airport is inaugurated

2019-09-26T17:00:00-04:00

Located in a region with the fastest growing demand for international travel, an expansion for the congested Beijing Daxing International Airport was much needed. Zaha Hadid Architects designed the newly inaugurated airport to meet the needs of the city's booming population and to be adaptable for future growth.

Aerial view.

ZHA drew from the traditional Chinese architectural concept of organizing interconnected spaces around a central courtyard for the 700,000-square-meter passenger terminal. Passengers are guided seamlessly through the respective departure, arrival, or transfer zones toward the multi-layered grand courtyard at the heart of the terminal.

Six flowing forms support the terminal's vaulted roof and let natural light into the space, ZHA says. Natural light also enters the terminal through a network of linear skylights “that provide an intui...

'Enthralling gateway to its city:' Blair Kamin on Foster + Partners-led O'Hare expansion proposal

2019-01-30T15:14:00-05:00

Chances for architectural greatness are rare. When they come around, we best grab them. Such is the opportunity Chicago has before it with one of the five plans for a new global terminal at O’Hare International Airport.

Chicago Tribune architecture critic, Blair Kamin, comes out in clear support of the Norman Foster-led finalist entry to the $8.5B Chicago O’Hare 21 Terminal Expansion competition: "That plan, from a team led by London-based Foster + Partners architects, promises to be everything an airport should be: a precisely-honed machine for moving people and baggage; easy to get around intuitively; and an enthralling gateway to its city." Foster's joint venture team also includes Chicago-based architects Epstein and Moreno.

The other four finalist teams, announced last November, are Fentress-EXP-Brook-Garza Joint Venture Partners, Santiago Calatrava LLC, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and Studio ORD Joint Venture Partners.

Previously: Questions raised over selection process for massive expansion of O’Hare International Airport

Foster, Calatrava, Gang, SOM among teams shortlisted for $8.5B Chicago O'Hare airport expansion

2018-11-09T15:01:00-05:00

After receiving bids from twelve groups that included some of the planet’s top architectural talent, Chicago has narrowed its search down to five teams hoping to design a $8.5 billion terminal expansion of O’Hare International Airport.

The list of five finalist teams includes some of the big-name bidders that responded to Chicago's O’Hare 21 Terminal Expansion Project RFP back in September:

Fentress-EXP-Brook-Garza Joint Venture Partners
Foster Epstein Moreno JV Joint Venture Partners
Santiago Calatrava LLC
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Studio ORD Joint Venture Partners

The group of well known firms that didn't make the cut includes Rafael Viñoly, Studio Fuksas, Bjarke Ingels Group, Gensler, HOK, Grimshaw Architects, Perkins+Will, and iconic Chicago firm Jahn, architects of O’Hare’s Terminal 1 in 1988 (as C.F. Murphy Associates).

"Chicago has called upon some of the world’s best designers to help carry out our vision for the new O’Hare Global Terminal—the key to a bigger, better and more modern O’Hare for the 21st century," commented Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the selection. "As we look ahead to O’Hare’s future—we won’t forget Chicago’s legacy of architecture and transportation. By the end of this competition...

New details emerge for JFK Airport's $13 billion revamp

2018-10-04T18:19:00-04:00

Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled several new details about the upcoming transformation of [JFK Airport,] most notably the creation of two new terminals that will replace some of the existing terminals, and rise on the northern and southern end of the complex. The cost of this revamp has gone up from the $10 billion estimate that accompanied the first announcement about the redevelopment in early 2017 to the current estimate of $13 billion.

Architects bidding for Chicago O'Hare airport expansion includes BIG, Calatrava, SOM, Fuksas

2018-09-24T14:12:00-04:00

The architect of the unbuilt Chicago Spire is among the designers vying for the massive O’Hare International Airport expansion project. The Zurich-based firm of Santiago Calatrava, whose projects include an airport in Bilbao, Spain, and the over-budget World Trade Center transportation center in New York, was one of 12 teams that responded to the city’s Thursday deadline to submit qualifications for the $8.7 billion expansion [...].

According to the Chicago Tribune, the list of teams bidding for the $8.7 billion Chicago O'Hare International Airport expansion includes big-name firms such as SOM, Perkins+Will, Bjarke Ingels Group, Santiago Calatrava, Gensler, HOK, Fentress Architects, JAHN, Epstein, and Studio Fuksas.

Winning airport design accused of plagiarizing Kengo Kuma's Wooden Bridge Museum

2018-08-27T14:09:00-04:00

Duangrit Bunnag, the renowned local architect who won the bid to design Suvarnabhumi airport's second terminal, has denied plagiarising the work of a Japanese architect. "I didn't copy anyone else's work. Those who follow my work will know that I created a similar image in my previous designs, such as for a hotel in Sri Lanka," Mr Duangrit told The Standard, a local online news portal.

Duangrit Bunnag's firm DBALP Consortium, along with Nikken Sekkei, EMS Consultants, MHPM, MSE and ARJ Consortium, were recently announced as winners of the Suvarnabhumi Airport Terminal 2 Project design contest. Focused on expanding the Thailand airport, the competition design sparked online accusations of plagiarizing Kengo Kuma's Wooden Bridge Museum in southern Japan.

DBALP Consortium's winning airport design:

Suvarnabhumi Terminal 2 competition entry by DBALP Consortium. Image: DBALP Consortium.

Kengo Kuma's Wooden Bridge Museum:

Kengo Kuma's Wooden Bridge Museum, located in southern Japan. Image: Takumi Ota.

Chicago city council approves $8.5 billion O'Hare airport expansion

2018-03-29T13:35:00-04:00

Chicago’s City Council on Wednesday approved a multibillion-dollar expansion plan for O’Hare International Airport, after an earlier dispute between the airport’s two largest carriers had previously threatened to snarl the project.

"The city of Chicago entered into an agreement with carriers United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines for airport renovations that include expanding the airport’s existing terminals and increasing the number and availability of some gates," Reuters reports.

O’Hare airport announces $1.3B expansion deal

2016-02-02T14:21:00-05:00

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city's major airlines have struck a deal to build the final runway envisioned in the city's multibillion-dollar modernization of O'Hare International Airport, but new gates that experts agree are key to significant reductions in long-standing flight delays are not part of the pact. The agreement, which the mayor formally announced Saturday, calls for spending $1.3 billion to build a sixth east-west runway at the airfield’s north end [...]

Eero Saarinen's dormant JFK terminal to become Jet Blue hotel

2015-09-18T12:33:00-04:00

JetBlue and MCR will build hotel rooms from the ground up next to the terminal and refurbish the interior of the building to become the property’s main entrance. [...] It is to have 505 rooms, 40,000 square feet of meeting space, up to eight eateries and an observation deck. The old terminal will serve as the lobby, with the rest of the hotel set back from it in a new building.

Jet Blue's hotel will be JFK's first, finally utilizing Saarinen's masterpiece after 14 years (and counting) of vacancy.

For more news at JFK: